Panthers Postgame Notes - 1.27.22 vs. VGK

FLORIDA PANTHERS vs. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

JANUARY 27, 2022

FLA Live Arena – Sunrise, Fla.

FLORIDA PANTHERS	VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
4	1

PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES

Forward Aleksander Barkov

On reaching the 200 goal and 500 point milestones:

“It feels great, those are the milestones you’re going to think about at the [end your career.] I’m really happy to get it out of the way. Playing on this team with such great players, it’s a pleasure. So I’m really happy.”

On team confidence:

“We are really confident right now, even on the road we are a confident team. We know we play our best and play a good team game. We can play against anyone in this league. It has been a lot of fun to be a part of to come here every day, work hard and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Forward Sam Bennett

On Barkov’s milestones:

“It is a huge accomplishment. It is not easy to score or get points in this league. He makes it look easy. He is a heck of player, a great leader and role model for me ever since I got here. I am really happy for him tonight.”

On his personal growth this season:

“It is a cool milestone to hit. I have never hit it before in my career. I am playing with confidence right now. I am playing with great players all year and getting a lot of opportunities and I am having a blast like, I said a million times, But I really am. It’s all part of it.”

On tonight’s win:

“That is a really good team. They play really hard, playoff style hockey, physical and skate well. I think we matched them really well tonight and it was a solid 60 minute effort from our team.”

Goaltender Spencer Knight

On tonight’s win:

“[Vegas] is a great team. They’re really strong from top to bottom—from goalie all the way to forwards, four lines, everything. They’re a great team so they really pushed us. But I thought our team played well, played a very disciplined game from start to finish. It was awesome.”

Interim Head Coach Andrew Brunette

On the crowd and team effort tonight:

“We have a lot confidence at home. I really believe we feed off the crowd. Tonight was an amazing feel—felt like a little bit of a playoff game in there. We rise up. A lot of days I can even tell in the morning—when we’re on the morning skate—that we’re excited to play here. And as the game starts going, when the building starts filling up, it has a lot of energy. They love it. They love playing in front of this crowd. Our fans are treated most nights with a really good effort, and we’re treated with their loyalty and passion. We hope we can keep it going, it’s a pretty good number, but we still got a lot of hockey left.”

On the depth of this Panthers group:

“Yeah, I’m spoiled. Even Luosty—we’re just deep. I’m really lucky to have those options. I thought they carried over their game from Winnipeg and were very sound tonight, very reliable at both ends, played defense, and they deserved their opportunity to close the game out. They did a good job.

CATS STATS

The Panthers improved to 22-3-0 at FLA Live Arena, and have won eight straight games at FLA Live Arena. Over the course of the eight-game win streak, the Cats outscored their opponents 49-16.
Earning their 30^th (30-9-5) win of the season tonight, the Panthers established a franchise record for fewest games required (44) to reach 30 wins, surpassing the record they set in 2020-21 (47 GP).
Florida’s 22 wins through their first 25 home games matches the NHL record for most wins through a team’s first 25 home games to start a season, which has only been done four prior times: DET (22-2-1, 2011-12), SJS (22-1-2, 2008-09), BOS (22-2-1, 1970-71), and MTL (22-0-3, 1943-44).
The Panthers own a 10-2-1 record this month, averaging a league-leading 4.69 goals per game and outscoring their opponents 61-32 since Jan. 1. Their 30.0 power-play success rate over that span ranks third.
Florida earned their 14^th comeback win of the season, the second-most of any team in 2021-22.
Aleksander Barkov tallied his 200^th NHL goal, which also marked his 500^th NHL point. Florida’s franchise leader in goals scored also becomes the second Panthers skater in franchise history to reach 500 points with the club. He also added an assist, for his third multi-point game over his past five contests.
Surpassing the 500-point mark in his 560^th NHL game, Barkov became the fourth-fastest Finnish-born player to record 500 NHL points, following Jari Kurri (356 GP), Teemu Selanne (384 GP), and Tomas Sandstrom (501 GP).
Sam Bennett tallied his 19^th and 20^th goals of the season, surpassing his previous career high of 18 goals (2015-16). Bennett’s performance marked his fourth multi-goal game of 2021-22 and his fifth as a member of the Panthers.
Mason Marchment tallied a goal for the second consecutive game and logged a team-high seven hits.
Anton Lundell notched an assist for the second consecutive game. His 27 points (10-17-27) are tied with Jonathan Huberdeau (13-14-27, 2012-13) for most points by a Florida rookie through their first 40 games in club history.
Jonathan Huberdeau notched his league-leading 43^rd assist (16-43-59) of the season. He is currently tied with Leon Draisaitl for the league lead in points.
Spencer Knight stopped 24 of 25 shots against to earn his ninth win of the season. He has given up just one goal against in each of his past two starts.